Someone has really studied their 3Cs and responsiveness, because this looks amazing, and I really wanted to enjoy every moment of it ... but sadly didn't.
There's a lot to enjoy here. Some clever level design, some beautifully responsive characters and a reactive environment with all requisite feedback in place, but at the heart of it is a fiddly, complex boost mechanic that I just could never get my head around in its most basic form. The "hold to charge, release to boost" is a LOT of dexterity challenge when combined with jumping, falling, and wall-grabbing!
Oddly, the mechanic got a lot easier to deal with when I was using the collectible top-ups. The idea of boosting between pickups was a lot more familiar, and reduced the number of complex interactions I was having to work on simultaneously.
Without knowing the journey you've been on, it's hard to pinpoint the issue for feedback, but right now my gut says this is a case where perhaps pride, or desire to be creative, has scuppered some otherwise excellent work. If so, the lesson is to let go of a little of your own dreams and focus on what's entertaining the player - and if that means dumbing down your beautiful, creative, original feature into something that's more of a glorified dash, then that's what you do! Unfortunately you have to be in this for the player at the end of the day, and not yourself.
And if it isn't that ... I guess playtest a LOT more and be ready to pivot things? I can think of two or three different ways the mechanic could work a lot easier - I think the key is in the cognitive load of complex, dextrous actions you're asking of the player in one single moment. Try and reduce the number of presses, stick pushes, and screen elements to read, and/or give the player more time to think about things.
There is - I cannot stress this enough - some professional level work in feedback here, and some great and creative level ideas, and I'm sorry I'm not spending more time on them, but that's the importance of core mechanics for you!
Thanks for playing and for the feedback! What can I say, you have perfectly captured all the points we have been experiencing over the past few weeks. We have learned a lot from this project and are aware of the weaknesses of the game. I'm glad you can feel the common effort of the team to be designers/developers/producers and even artists.
Thank you for the feedback! I am glad you enjoyed some elements but also understand the gripes you have with it. Though it did make me happy that the dash refresh helped you with the levels.
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Someone has really studied their 3Cs and responsiveness, because this looks amazing, and I really wanted to enjoy every moment of it ... but sadly didn't.
There's a lot to enjoy here. Some clever level design, some beautifully responsive characters and a reactive environment with all requisite feedback in place, but at the heart of it is a fiddly, complex boost mechanic that I just could never get my head around in its most basic form. The "hold to charge, release to boost" is a LOT of dexterity challenge when combined with jumping, falling, and wall-grabbing!
Oddly, the mechanic got a lot easier to deal with when I was using the collectible top-ups. The idea of boosting between pickups was a lot more familiar, and reduced the number of complex interactions I was having to work on simultaneously.
Without knowing the journey you've been on, it's hard to pinpoint the issue for feedback, but right now my gut says this is a case where perhaps pride, or desire to be creative, has scuppered some otherwise excellent work. If so, the lesson is to let go of a little of your own dreams and focus on what's entertaining the player - and if that means dumbing down your beautiful, creative, original feature into something that's more of a glorified dash, then that's what you do! Unfortunately you have to be in this for the player at the end of the day, and not yourself.
And if it isn't that ... I guess playtest a LOT more and be ready to pivot things? I can think of two or three different ways the mechanic could work a lot easier - I think the key is in the cognitive load of complex, dextrous actions you're asking of the player in one single moment. Try and reduce the number of presses, stick pushes, and screen elements to read, and/or give the player more time to think about things.
There is - I cannot stress this enough - some professional level work in feedback here, and some great and creative level ideas, and I'm sorry I'm not spending more time on them, but that's the importance of core mechanics for you!
Thanks for playing and for the feedback! What can I say, you have perfectly captured all the points we have been experiencing over the past few weeks. We have learned a lot from this project and are aware of the weaknesses of the game. I'm glad you can feel the common effort of the team to be designers/developers/producers and even artists.
Thanks again and see you next game!
Thank you for the feedback! I am glad you enjoyed some elements but also understand the gripes you have with it. Though it did make me happy that the dash refresh helped you with the levels.